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2019 Seedstock 100

There’s been a subtle shift in seedstock operations.

Jan 02, 2019

Sift through this year’s BEEF Seedstock 100 (S100) and you’ll find much that you likely expect, given the long biologic cycle of a cow and the fact that breeding decisions for bulls offered last year were made a couple of years earlier.

The number of bulls offered by S100 producers last year is almost identical to the previous year. Those operations marketed 56,091 bulls, just 382 fewer than the previous year. They offered between 240 and 3,700 bulls, also about the same as last year.

Keep in mind that the number of bulls marketed the previous couple of years increased significantly, in tandem with rapid national cow herd expansion.

Barring deep and widespread drought, there is currently nothing to suggest economic incentive for significant national beef cow herd contraction from the cyclical plateau it seems to be approaching. The number of bulls offered by S100 producers suggests the seedstock sector also could be positioned for a soft cyclical landing.

The relative concentration of S100 producers and their geography also remains similar year over year.

Just five S100 operations marketed 1,500 or more bulls, representing 12,651 bulls, or 22.5% of all bulls marketed by S100 operations. This is almost identical to last year.

There are eight operations that marketed 1,000 or more bulls last year, between 1,000 and 3,700 bulls. Those eight operations accounted for 15,871 bulls marketed, or 28% of all bulls marketed by S100 operations, almost identical to the previous year.

As for geography, 41% of the bulls came from S100 producers in three states: Montana (15.73%), Nebraska (12.81%) and South Dakota (12.43%). Throw in Kansas (9.69%), Colorado (8.85%) and Oklahoma (8.46%), and S100 producers in six states account for 68% of the bulls on the list.

S100 operations marketed 32 different breeds and composites. But only a handful of those were offered by a significant number of S100 operations: Angus (72%); Red Angus (23%); Hereford (14%); Sim-Angus (13%); Charolais (11%); Simmental (8%); Balancer (6%); Gelbvieh (5.0%); Limousin (4%); and Brangus (3%). Among those, Red Angus and Balancer were offered by more S100 operations year over year.

BEEF’s Seedstock 100 list is based on the number of bulls marketed during the last calendar year, as reported by seedstock operations to BEEF.

As such, the BEEF Seedstock 100 list makes no claim to be representative of the seedstock industry as a whole. Neither is it intended to be a proxy of quality and ability.

Inclusion on the S100 list speaks to a host of supplier attributes associated with the commitment and ability to market so many bulls year after year, such as customer trust and satisfaction, industry knowledge and adaptability.

With that said, the S100 list represents a small percentage of the overall number of beef cattle seedstock suppliers in the U.S.